


You Can Depend On Me

by AbschaumNo1



Series: Back to You [8]
Category: Men's Hockey RPF
Genre: Established Relationship, Family, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-23
Updated: 2018-12-23
Packaged: 2019-09-25 10:45:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,526
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17119892
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AbschaumNo1/pseuds/AbschaumNo1
Summary: Andrew seeing his family when the Habs play in Chicago





	You Can Depend On Me

**Author's Note:**

> The happiest of birthdays to V!   
> Here's to hoping that our boys will keep up their momentum tonight for an even better birthday present ❤

Andrew is conflicted when they fly into O'Hare. Sure, he's excited to see his family, and maybe he should be focussing on that. But it never gets easier to play against his friends, and with the way the Hawks are doing these days he just can't be happy to go in and play a hard fought game and win.  
He’s glad he’s bringing Chauny and Andy along for the trip, because Chauny lets him get away with not talking through the flight.  
They land and they’re on their way home as fast as they physically can. It's still relatively early in the day, which means that for once Andrew actually gets to spend time with the kids before they have to go to bed.  
Brent’s coat and his shoes are missing when they enter the house, and Andrew has to pull a face. He's probably still stuck in a team meeting or with the guys. Andrew puts their bags down, hangs up their coats and takes off his shoes, before he and Chauny walk down the hallway towards the living room. He can hear Liz and the kids in there, and he’s smiling even before he sees them. There’s just nothing like coming home to his family. Which is a little unfair towards Chauny and Andy maybe, but he loves them no less, just in a different way.  
He stands in the entrance to the living room for a moment, watching his family with a smile, before he walks in, and immediately gets buried in a pile of kids.  
They all sit down on the sectional, the kids clearly torn between asking Andrew the same hundred questions they always ask and meeting Andy. Andrew can see Liz moving to put away the kids’ toys, but he shakes his head at her.  
“Leave it to me,” he says. “Just because I'm not around much doesn't mean I can't pull my weight when I am.”  
Liz laughs. “Then I'll leave you to it.” She gets up to go downstairs to her own space, but Carter jumps off the couch and pulls her over.  
“You have to stay,” he tells her. “You need to meet Andy.”  
Liz exchanges a look with Andrew, who passes it on to Chaunette, because this is her decision.  
Chaunette smiles at Liz and says, “You can stay if you want to.”  
Liz smiles back and sits down on Carter's other side.  
"Okay then,” she says. “I’m sure Andrew has a whole lot of stories he’s bursting to tell us.”  
Andrew just grins, because she should know by now that he has no shame about that. He settles in, Dylan in his lap, Kenzie on one side, Chaunette and Andy on the other and watches as his kids meet his goddaughter.   
They're still on the couch when Brent comes home. Andrew can hear him even before he sees him, and he's not surprised to see him standing in the doorway when he turns a little. They smile at each other because they can't not, but all Andrew can think about is how tired and down Brent looks, and fuck.  
He knew things weren't good, but this...this is bad. Brent looks like shit, and Andrew could kick himself for not realising it earlier. He's not sure how Brent has managed to hide this from him, because they usually do their best to FaceTime every day, but he somehow did it.  
Andrew doesn't say any of that. Not in front of the kids. Instead he smiles at Brent and motions him to come over.  
“Come on. Everyone's meeting Andy,” he says.  
Brent chuckles. “I hope I haven't missed the best already.”  
“There’s plenty of time left.”  
Brent settles in with Kenzie at Andrew’s other side, leaning into him so he can bend over to reach Andy.  
Eventually Andrew runs out of stories to tell, and soon after Liz makes her excuses and disappears down the stairs.  
Andrew exchange's a look with Chauny, who nods, and as soon as it's not too obvious what he's doing he excuses himself to the bathroom, while Chaunette distracts Brent by handing him Andy.  
Liz opens her door when he knocks and lets him in.  
“Tell me the truth,” he says softly. “How long has he looked like this?”  
Liz sighs. “November. Shortly after the coaching change, I'd say.”  
Andrew lets out a pained noise at that. “God that's...that's weeks ago.”  
“I should have told you. But he insists that he's fine and… he doesn't want you to worry, because you're doing so well.”  
Andrew sighs and runs a hand over his face. It figures that his husband is being a self-sacrificing idiot about this.  
“It's not your fault,” he says finally. “He should have told me himself. Fuck. I thought my concussion stint was lesson enough for all of us.”  
Liz considers him for a moment, and then she says, “The others aren't doing much better. You'll see when you meet them.”  
“I thought as much.” Andrew nods grimly.  
He hugs Liz. “Thanks for telling me. I should go back up before Brent realises Chauny is just distracting him with Andy.”  
“It's good to have all of you here. I think Brent needs it.”  
Andrew nods. “I just...” He bites his lip. “I just wish there was more time.”  
“I know,” Liz says. “I do, too. You'll have to make do with what you have though.”  
It's exactly what Andrew is planning to do.  
Some of the guys from Montreal come over for dinner, and Andrew may or may not plot with the kids to keep Gally occupied while he's here. He doesn't want to admit how much he really misses Chucky but Andrew's been onto him since before the season started and he's never claimed to play fair.  
Pricey looks amused when the kids immediately drag Gally off to show him their toys, but he gives Andrew a nod when he catches his eye.  
Andrew also may have texted everyone to make sure to steer clear of hockey talk for the evening when they can. He's hoping to distract Brent from all of that for the evening at least. It's good that Chauny and Andy are there, too, because Chauny pretty much hands her over to Brent for the time being, claiming Andrew definitely needs her help if they don't all want to catch food poisoning. Which is a transparent lie, but works well enough, because Lehky immediately uses it to chirp Andrew. And well, Andrew can take one for the team if he has to.  
It seems to work at least which makes Andrew breathe a little easier.

Dinner is good and by the time the others have to leave again, Brent seems a little more upbeat, and Gally has sent about a hundred pictures of the kids and himself with the kids to Chucky.  
They take the kids to bed, and by the time Andrew has changed and brushed his teeth, Brent is already waiting for him. He's still looking far too tired for Andrew's liking, but it's not like he can do much about that right now.  
He slips under the covers and immediately wraps his arms around Brent, who lets out a sigh and practically melts into it. Andrew presses a soft kiss to his lips and rests their foreheads together.  
“I know you don't want me to worry, but did you really think it would work even when I see you in person?” He says softly.  
Brent is silent for a moment but then he says, “I didn't actually think that far.”  
“I can see that,” Andrew says with a snort. But then he turns serious again. “I thought we went through this when I was being an asshole about my concussion.”  
Brent sighs. “I know. But I just…”  
“No buts,” Andrew says. “If you're not okay you need to talk to me. I can compartmentalize.”  
“You're doing so well, I didn't want to be the one to ruin that.”  
“I'm your husband. I'll always worry. You can't protect me from that. I don't want you to protect me from that.” Andrew rolls his eyes, even if Brent can't see it in the dark.  
Brent moves closer until they're pressed together tightly. “I know. I should have known better.” He takes a deep breath. “So, things suck and I'm beating myself up about it and I mean I like Jeremy, but I can't help but think that it's somehow our fault Joel got fired.”  
Andrew tightens his arms around him. “It's not,” he says. “You know that.”  
“If we had only done more…”  
“No. No what-ifs. This was a front office decision. It's not your fault. And you're not the only one on the team, and none of you are responsible. You guys did everything you could. There’s no reason for you to put this on your shoulders. You all deserve better than that.”  
“I know. And...I'll try.”  
“Good.” Andrew brushes a quick kiss against Brent's lips. “Now sleep. We got a game tomorrow.”  
“Yeah. Let's.”  
And Andrew knows he can't make it okay, but this has to be enough for now.

 


End file.
